Martha Washington | American first lady | Britannica.com American first lady Alternative Titles: Martha Custis, Martha Dandridge Martha Washington Kurt Gödel Martha Washington, née Martha Dandridge, also called (1749–59) Martha Custis (born June 2, 1731, New Kent county, Virginia [U.S.]—died May 22, 1802, Mount Vernon, Virginia, U.S.), American first lady (1789–97), the wife of George Washington , first president of the United States and commander in chief of the colonial armies during the American Revolutionary War . She set many of the standards and customs for the proper behaviour and treatment of the president’s wife. Martha Washington. Stock Montage/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Daughter of farmers John and Frances Jones Dandridge, Martha grew up among the wealthy plantation families of the Tidewater region of eastern Virginia, and she received an education traditional for young women of her class and time, one in which domestic skills and the arts far outweighed science and mathematics.

In 1749, at age 18, she married Daniel Parke Custis, who was 20 years her senior and an heir to a neighbouring plantation. During their life together she bore four children, two of whom died in infancy. Her husband’s death in July 1757 made her one of the wealthiest widows in the region. In the spring of the following year George Washington, then a young plantation owner and commander of the Virginia forces in the French and Indian War , began to court her, and their attachment grew increasingly deep. The couple married at Martha’s home on January 6, 1759, and she and her children joined Washington at Mount Vernon , his plantation on the Potomac River . Washington later resented suggestions, which were undoubtedly true, that his wife’s considerable property had eased his life in the early years of their marriage. Dramatization of George Washington’s pre-Revolutionary life as a Virginia landowner. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. At Mount Vernon Martha became known for her graciousness and hospitality.

After George was chosen to command the American forces in the Revolutionary War, Martha spent winters with him at his various military quarters, where she lived simply and encouraged other officers’ wives to help in the war effort by economizing and assisting their husbands. After the war, during which her only surviving son died, Martha virtually adopted two of her grandchildren, and they substituted in many ways for the children she and George never had. In 1789, shortly after her husband’s inauguration as president of the United States, Martha joined him in New York City , then the national capital. Martha was widely hailed and often feted along the route, and she became known to Americans as “Lady Washington.” The couple’s rented home on Broadway also served as the president’s office, exposing her to her husband’s callers and drawing her into political discussions more than would have been the case had home and office been separated. When Philadelphia became the seat of government in 1790 and the Washingtons moved to a house on High Street, Martha’s hospitality became even more elaborate.

The first lady took no stands on public issues, but she was criticized by some for entertaining on a scale too opulent for a republican government, and she was only too glad to retire to Mount Vernon after her husband completed his second term of office in 1797. Britannica Stories Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent Following George’s death in 1799, Martha continued to reside at Mount Vernon. In 1800 Congress granted her a lifetime franking privilege, which it continued to grant to any president’s widow who applied for it. After Martha died in 1802, there was considerable discussion in Congress about burying the Washingtons in the capital city that bore their name, but instead she was buried beside George in a family tomb at Mount Vernon. As wife of the first president of the United States, Martha Washington had no examples to follow. Although she was reluctant to assume a public role, her willingness to do so contributed to the eventual strength and influence of the position of first lady.

Martha Washington - First Ladies - HISTORY.com Martha Washington A+E Networks Introduction Martha Washington (1731-1802) was an American first lady (1789–97) and the wife of George Washington, first president of the United States and commander in chief of the colonial armies during the American Revolution. She set many of the standards and customs for the proper behavior and treatment of a U.S. president’s wife. (The term “first lady,” however, did not come into common use until well into the 19th century.) Google Martha Dandridge was the first of eight children born to Frances Jones and John Dandridge, an English native who established a moderately successful plantation outside of Williamsburg, Virginia . Few details of her childhood have been revealed, as no surviving diaries or correspondences exist from the period, but it is known she developed a lifelong love of reading at an early age. She also underwent the training expected of a young woman of her class, receiving lessons in subjects both functional (needlework, household management) and recreational (dancing, horseback riding).

As the wife of the Continental Army’s commander-in-chief, Martha Washington was integral to a fundraising campaign that called upon woman to donate money, clothing and supplies to the Revolutionary cause. Martha also traveled to be at Washington’s side for his winter encampments, weathering the notoriously brutal season at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania , in early 1778. Her residence during those periods was the social center for visiting military leaders and foreign dignitaries, and she also provided care for injured and exhausted soldiers, who greatly appreciated the efforts of “Lady Washington.” Washington’s unanimous election to the presidency in 1789 brought Martha and the family to New York City. An experienced hostess from her days of managing their Mount Vernon estate in Virginia, she established the traditions of holding formal dinners on Thursdays and public receptions on Fridays. However, she was unhappy living in New York, and while she drew some comfort when the capital was moved to the more familiar city of Philadelphia in 1790, she still privately chafed at the demands of her public role. It is unclear whether she influenced policy in any way, although it is believed she was a strong supporter of Washington’s Federalist Party .

While Martha was thrilled to return to Mount Vernon in March 1797, her desire to resume a private life was thwarted by the frequency of visitors to their home. After Washington’s death in December 1799, she was granted the free postage privilege known as “franking” to respond to the condolences that came flooding in by mail. The news of her own death, approximately 2 ½ years after her husband’s, was also widely reported, with one obituary remembering her as “the worthy partner of the worthiest of men.” She was later honored as the first woman to have her likeness printed on U.S. currency (1886), as well as the first to appear on a U.S. postage stamp (1902). Access hundreds of hours of historical video, commercial free, with HISTORY Vault . Start your free trial today. Tags Martha Washington Biography :: National First Ladies' Library Chestnut Grove Plantation, New Kent County, Virginia 1731, June 2. Father: John Dandridge (1701-1756), emigrated from England to Virginiain 1715 with older brother William.

A planter, in 1730, he served as clerk of New Kent County. Mother: Frances Jones (1710-1785), born in York County, Virginia, married John Dandridge in 1730. Ancestry: English, Welsh, French; Martha Washington's father John Dandridge was an English immigrant. Her maternal great-grandfather Rowland Jones (died, 1688) immigrated from Oxfordshire, England to Virginia. Tradition identifies the Jones family as originating from Wales, with a Macon family that married into the Joneses being French Huguenots.

Birth Order and Siblings: Eldest child; three brothers and five sisters, John Dandridge (1733-1749), William Dandridge (1734-1776), Bartholomew Dandridge (1737-1785), Anna Maria "Fanny" Dandridge Bassett (1739-1777), Frances Dandridge (1744-1757), Elizabeth Dandridge Aylett Henley (1749-1800), Mary Dandridge (1756-1763); allegedly her younger illegitimate half-sister (date of birth unrecorded) was a slave; Ann Dandridge Costin, was said to be one-quarter African, one-quarter Cherokee Indian and half-white; there is further evidence of an illegitimate half-brother Ralph Dandridge (date of birth unrecorded), who was probably all white. Physical Appearance: No extant record but tradition identifies as being less than five feet tall; dark brown hair Religious Affiliation: Church of England Education: Informal education; trained at home in music, sewing, household management.

Later knowledge of plantation management, crop sales, homeopathic medicine, animal husbandry suggests a wider education than previously thought. Probably taught by indentured Dandridge family servant Thomas Leonard, and regularly tutored for about five years until the age of 12 or 13 at Poplar Grove Plantation, the home of a friend of the Chamberlayne family. Occupation before Marriage: No documentation suggesting to the contrary, it has been assumed that Martha Washington's youth was spent much as others of her class and gender were, preparing for management of a plantation, learning various needlework arts, playing a musical instrument and perhaps singing and dancing. Marriage: First marriage: 19 years old, married 1750 to Daniel Parke Custis (1711–1757), manager of New Kent County plantation of his father Councilor John Custis of Williamsburg. They lived at a mansion called "White House," on the Pumunkey River. Nineteen years old when she married a man who was twenty years her senior, and then 26 when she was widowed with two children, Martha Custis had considerable power through her wealth and privileged social status.

Evidence of her business acumen in the lucrative tobacco trade is found in letters she wrote to the London merchants who handled the exporting of the large Custis crop output. It has been asserted by many of George Washington's biographers that these factors made her potential as a wife an attractive and important factor in his courting of her. Second: 27 years old, married 1759, January 6 at "White House," to Colonel George Washington (1732–1799) commander of the First Virginia Regiment in the French and Indian War, former member, House of Burgess, Frederick County (1758). Although there is no known “pre-nuptial” as modern times would equate it, the great inheritance which would come to Washington as a result of his successful courtship of Martha Custis is widely believed to have been a factor in his interest in marrying her. They lived at estate "Mount Vernon," initially leased from his half-brother Lawrence's widow, and inherited upon her 1761 death.

Children: By first marriage: Daniel Parke Custis (1751–1754), Frances Parke Custis (1753–1757), John Parke "Jacky" Custis (1754–1781), Martha Parke "Patsy" Custis (1756–1773) By second marriage: Grandchildren George Washington "Wash" or "Tub" Parke Custis (1781-1857), Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis (1779-1852) Occupation after Marriage: With her extremely large inheritance of land from the Custis estate and the vast farming enterprise at Mount Vernon, Martha Washington spent considerable time directing the large staff of slaves and servants. While George Washington oversaw all financial transactions related to the plantation, Martha Washington was responsible for the not insubstantial process of harvesting, preparing, and preserving herbs, vegetables, fruits, meats, and dairy for medicines, household products and foods needed for those who lived at Mount Vernon, relatives, slaves and servants - as well as long-staying visitors.

During the American Revolution, Martha Washington assumed a prominent role as caretaker for her husband, appointed the General of the American Army by the Continental Congress, and his troops (winter 1775, Cambridge, Massachusetts; spring 1776, New York; spring 1777, Morristown, New Jersey; winter 1778, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania). She lent her name to support a formal effort to enlist women of the colonies to volunteer on behalf of the Continental Army. It involved her writing to the wives of all the colonial governors and asking them to encourage the women of their colonies to make not only financial contributions but to sew and gather necessary supplies for the Continental Army. During the famously bitter winter spent at Valley Forge, Martha Washington permanently endeared herself to the soldiers. Often starving for want of food, their feet freezing in the snow and their outer garments too thin to withstand the cold, she made the rounds of visiting them, providing as much food as she could have donated, sewing socks and other outer garments and prevailing on local women to also do so, she also nursed those who were ill or dying. Her commitment to the welfare of the American Revolutionary War veterans would remain lifelong.

In appreciation, American servicemen addressed her as "Lady Washington." Only supposition can be made about the true nature of her relationship with George Washington since she burned as much as she could find of the correspondence she had which had been exchanged between them, just prior to her death. There is the suggestion of a cordial and affectionate marriage, but not one of great passion. Presidential Campaign and Inauguration: Since George Washington was unanimously named President, there was no election campaign. Unable to attend his April 30, 1789 inaugural ceremony in the first capital city of New York, Martha Washington followed the route traveled by him a month earlier. She was honored as "Lady Washington," a public figure in her own right in ceremony and procession by local citizen groups, all of which was reported in the national newspapers. She was present for his second inaugural on March 4, 1793 in Philadelphia but took no public role in the ceremonies. First Lady: 1789, April 30 - 1797, March 4 57 years old Martha Washington's eight years as the first First Lady were extremely unpleasant to her personally, but she viewed it as duty to her husband and her country.

By the time she arrived at the capital, her husband's secretary, who had lived in Europe, created a series of rigid protocol rules that she found especially limiting of her, particularly the one which forbade her and the President from accepting invitations to dine in private homes. Despite the company of her two grandchildren, she expressed a sense of loneliness in New York, the first capital, where she had fewer personal friends than she would find in the next capital of Philadelphia (1790-1800). She also discovered that even her mundane activities like shopping or taking her grandchildren to the circus, which were recorded by the press. Establishing her public role as hostess in the series of presidential mansions ( two in New York and one in Philadelphia ) Martha Washington held formal dinners on Thursdays and public receptions on Fridays. . No evidence suggests what or if she sought to influence any of the President's decisions; later remarks attributed to her imply her to be a strong partisan of his Federalist Party. Newspapers of the Anti-Federalist Party criticized the formality of her receptions as evoking the royal court of the British monarchy, against the tyranny of which the American Revolution had been fought.

She remained beloved by Revolutionary War veterans, and was publicly known to provide financial support or to intercede on behalf of those among them in need. Not only Americans, but Europeans responded to Martha Washington as something of an American heroine, sometimes sending her lavish gifts. One British engraver even sought to capture her image and sell it to the mass public, creating a picture that looked nothing like her but was labeled " Lady Washington." There is evidence of great mutual care and affection between the first president and his wife. She was conscientious about ensuring in every way she could the dignity of him as a symbol and that his reputation was never compromised. She also recognized the differentiation necessary between her own personal life and the way she was perceived by the public. After he underwent the surgical removal of a possibly cancerous growth on his left leg in 1789. Martha Washington made arrangements to mitigate the pain of his painful post-surgical recovery, ensuring that the public streets near their home were cordoned off and straw was laid nearby to muffle sounds. Post-Presidential Life: Martha Washington was relieved when her husband's Administration ended and they retired to Mount Vernon. Nevertheless, her life after the presidency was not the idyllic private existence she had anticipated.

Rather, hundreds of American citizens as well as visiting foreign dignitaries, such as France’s Marquis de Lafayette, came to visit the former President at Mount Vernon. All expected to be entertained, some even expected to be put up as overnight guests. The former First Lady was not known to have accompanied the former President across the Potomac River to the new federal city being built, even after it began functioning as the official U.S. capital city in 1800. The extent of her travel from Mount Vernon was only to the local city of Alexandria,Virginia. Upon his death on December 14, 1799, the slaves owned by the Washingtons were promised their freedom upon Martha Washington's death. Making clear the tremendous personal sacrifice that the federal government asked of her in requesting that she permit the remains of the first president to be eventually interned at the U.S. Capitol Building, she wrote to President John Adams that she would acquiesce with her sense of public duty. As a widow, she welcomed visits from President John Adams and her old friend Abigail Adams, whom she befriended when the latter was serving as the Vice President’s wife.

She also courteously welcomed the formal calls from future Presidents and their wives, John Quincy Adams and Louisa Adams, and James Madison and Dolley Madison. One account does quote her as making a disparaging remark about Anti-Federalists, particularly aimed at Thomas Jefferson, whom many Federalists considered to have betrayed the friendship of George Washington. Although she curtailed her life to Mount Vernon, once the new capital city was established in what was first called, "The Federal City," and then named for her late husband, Martha Washington welcomed political figures who came to pay their respects to her and visit what was then thought to be the temporary burial place of the late president. She expressed her loneliness for her late husband frequently and her desire to soon join him in death. Despite her own self-identity as an entirely private person, her death was considered a matter of national interest and her obituary was widely printed in regional newspapers.

Death: Her home, Mount Vernon, Virginia 1802, May 22 Martha (Dandridge) Washington (1731-1802) | WikiTree: The FREE Family Tree 10.2 Acknowledgments Biography Martha Dandridge [1] was born 23 Jun 1731 on the Chestnut Grove Plantation in New Kent County, Virginia. Martha Washington died 22 May 1802 at Mount Vernon, Fairfax, Virginia [2] and is buried at Mount Vernon. Martha had three brothers and five sisters. She was the eldest daughter of John Dandridge and Frances Jones . She is named for her cousin Martha Dandridge (born 1721). --- Early Years Education Martha had no formal education to speak of, but she was trained in the home in sewing, music and how to run a household. It is believed that an indentured servant to the Dandridge family, Thomas Leonard, taught her other things such as plantation management, crop sales, animal husbandry, and homeopathic medicine. First Marriage and Issue In 1750, She married first to Daniel Parke Custis , with whom she had four children.

Two (Daniel and Frances) children died when they were three and four years old respectfully. Her husband died in 1757. When Martha became a widower of Daniel Parke Custis, she became one of the wealthiest women in her part of Virginia. At White House and in Williamsburg, Custis and his wife enjoyed the life of a wealthy and elite Virginia planter family. They had four children, all given the middle name Parke in order to preserve their eligibility to inherit as descendants of his great-grandfather, Daniel Parke, a member of the Council who had died in 1679. Custis's first son and first daughter died early in childhood. His younger son, John Parke Custis, lived to adulthood and became heir to the Custis wealth and its entangled lawsuits; his second daughter, Martha Parke Custis, died at age seventeen after an epileptic seizure. [3] Second Marriage When she was 27 years old, Martha Dandridge Custis married Colonel George Washington (1732–1799) on January 6, 1759 at the "White House in New Kent, Virginia," [4] .

Colonel George Washington was the commander of the First Virginia Regiment in the French and Indian War, former member, House of Burgess, Frederick County (1758). He would become the first President of the United States of America. Although there is no known “pre-nuptial” as modern times would equate it, the great inheritance which would come to Washington as a result of his successful courtship of Martha Custis is widely believed to have been a factor in his interest in marrying her. They lived at estate "Mount Vernon," initially leased from his half-brother Lawrence's widow, and inherited upon her 1761 death.

Children Daniel Parke Custis (1751–1754), Frances Parke Custis (1753–1757), John Parke "Jacky" Custis (1754–1781), Martha Parke "Patsy" Custis (1756–1773) By second marriage: None George Washington "Wash" or "Tub" Parke Custis (1781-1857), Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis (1779-1852) First Lady: April 30, 1789 - March 4, 1797 57 years old Washington's Presidency Martha did not attend George's first inauguration held in New York; however, she was present at his second held in Philadelphia. She did not particularly care for her role as First Lady, but she was known for holding official receptions every Thursday afternoon at the Executive Mansion. She was known to financially support and intercede when necessary on the behalf of Revolutionary War veterans who were in need.

Widowed Upon Washington's death on December 14, 1799, the slaves owned by the Washingtons were promised their freedom upon Martha Washington's death. Making clear the tremendous personal sacrifice that the federal government asked of her in requesting that she permit the remains of the first president to be eventually interned at the U.S. Capitol Building, she wrote to President John Adams that she would acquiesce with her sense of public duty. Martha Washington was the first presidential widow to receive the free postage "franking" privilege from Congress when she was overwhelmed with the cost of responding to the large number of condolence letters she received upon the death of her husband. [ |Martha Dandridge Washington First Ladies Biographies online, p.2 ] Death: Her home, Mount Vernon, Virginia 1802, May 22 70 years old Excerpt from an obituary published in the Virginia Gazette on 29 May, 1802: "On Saturday the 22nd of May at 12 o'clock P. M., Mrs. Washington terminated her well spent life." [5] Burial: Burial vault, Mt.

Vernon, Virginia Legacy As the first First Lady, Martha Washington was forever iconized in all forms of commemoration alongside the image of her husband. For many generations, framed pictures of both George and Martha Washington were hung in American classrooms, Martha Washington’s patience, steadiness, optimism and loyalty held up as ideal virtues. Among the numerous engravings and illustrations made to commemorate the life of George Washington, his wife was also almost always depicted alongside him. She was also the first historical woman figure to be depicted by the federal government on postage stamps and currency. Timeline 1000+ images about #1 George Washington & Martha Dandridge Custis W. on Pinterest | George washington quotes, The father and Portrait Forward Mary Anna Custis Lee was the only surviving child of George Washington Parke Custis, George Washington's step-grandson and builder of Arlington House, and Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis. She had known her third cousin, Robert E. Lee, from childhood. Mary Custis and Robert E. Lee were married at Arlington House in Arlington, Virginia, on June 30, 1831. They had 3 sons and 4 daughters: George Washington Custis, William H.

Fitzhugh, Robert Edward Jr., Mary, Eleanor Agnes, Anne and Mildred Lee. See More Martha Dandridge Custis Washington | whitehouse.gov Air Force One Martha Dandridge Custis Washington As the wife of George Washington, the first President of the United States, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington is considered to be the first First Lady, but the title was not coined until after her death. "I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything else, there is certain bounds set for me which I must not depart from..." So in one of her surviving letters, Martha Washington confided to a niece that she did not entirely enjoy her role as first of First Ladies. She once conceded that "many younger and gayer women would be extremely pleased" in her place; she would "much rather be at home." But when George Washington took his oath of office in New York City on April 30, 1789, and assumed the new duties of President of the United States, his wife brought to their position a tact and discretion developed over 58 years of life in Tidewater Virginia society.

Oldest daughter of John and Frances Dandridge, she was born June 2, 1731, on a plantation near Williamsburg. Typical for a girl in an 18th-century family, her education was almost negligible except in domestic and social skills, but she learned all the arts of a well-ordered household and how to keep a family contented. As a girl of 18--about five feet tall, dark-haired, gentle of manner--she married the wealthy Daniel Parke Custis. Two babies died; two were hardly past infancy when her husband died in 1757. From the day Martha married George Washington in 1759, her great concern was the comfort and happiness of her husband and children. When his career led him to the battlegrounds of the Revolutionary War and finally to the Presidency, she followed him bravely.

Her love of private life equaled her husband's; but, as she wrote to her friend Mercy Otis Warren, "I cannot blame him for having acted according to his ideas of duty in obeying the voice of his country." As for herself, "I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances." At the President's House in temporary capitals, New York and Philadelphia, the Washingtons chose to entertain in formal style, deliberately emphasizing the new republic's wish to be accepted as the equal of the established governments of Europe. Still, Martha's warm hospitality made her guests feel welcome and put strangers at ease.

She took little satisfaction in " formal compliments and empty ceremonies" and declared that "I am fond of only what comes from the heart." Abigail Adams, who sat at her right during parties and receptions, praised her as "one of those unassuming characters which create Love and Esteem." In 1797 the Washingtons said farewell to public life and returned to their beloved Mount Vernon, to live surrounded by kinfolk, friends, and a constant stream of guests eager to pay their respects to the celebrated couple. Martha's daughter Patsy had died, her son Jack at 26, but Jack's children figured in the household. After George Washington died in 1799, Martha assured a final privacy by burning their letters; she died of "severe fever" on May 22, 1802. Both lie buried at Mount Vernon, where Washington himself had planned an unpretentious tomb for them. The biographies of the First Ladies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The First Ladies of the United States of America,” by Allida Black. Copyright 2009 by the White House Historical Association. Learn more about Martha Dandridge Custis Washington's spouse, George Washington .

MARTHA WASHINGTON aka MARTHA DANDRIDGE 1st Lady of the United States (Wife of President GEORGE WASHINGTON) - POWERFUL PEOPLE and FRIENDS POWERFUL PEOPLE and FRIENDS This is a beta version of NNDB Martha Washington Location of death: Mount Vernon, VA Cause of death: Fever Remains:Buried, Mount Vernon Estate, Mount Vernon, VA Gender: Female Nationality: United States Executive summary: Wife of US President George Washington MARTHA DANDRIDGE married into great wealth when she was 17, to a man twenty years older than she. He died seven years later, leaving her a fortune and two children to raise. Shortly thereafter she met George Washington , a commander of the First Virginia Regiment in the French and Indian War, and former member of the House of Burgess, representing Frederick County. They were married seventeen years before the rebellion that made America. When he became President, Martha Washington did not attend his inauguration. Her husband's personal secretary wrote certain rules of protocol based on European royal traditions, which among other restrictions forbade her or her husband from accepting any invitations to dine in private residences other than their own.

She had few friends in the newborn nation's temporary capitals where they lived -- New York and Philadelphia -- but she held formal dinners at the President's residence once weekly on Thursdays, and opened their home to selected members of the general public on Fridays. She was disappointed that even such mundane errands as going shopping or taking her grandchildren to a park were intruded upon by reporters detailing her every move. She told a niece that "many younger and gayer women would be extremely pleased" to be the President's wife, but that she would "much rather be at home". After her husband's death, she did not attend his funeral. In his will, he freed half his slaves, rendering the remainder as his wife's property, but shortly after his death the widow Washington freed all the family's remaining slaves. In 1802, shortly before her own death, she burned many of his personal letters. Father: John Dandridge county clerk (b. 14-Jul-1700, d. 31-Aug-1756) (b. 6-Aug-1710, m. 22-Jul-1730, d.

9-Apr-1785) Brother: John Dandridge Sister: Anna Maria Dandridge Bassett "Fanny" (b. 30-Mar-1739, d. 17-Dec-1777) Sister: Elizabeth Dandridge Aylett Henley (b. 25-May-1749, d. 1800) (half-sister, slave, born to John Dandridge's slave) (half-brother, born to John Dandridge's mistress) Husband: Daniel Parke Custis plantation owner (b. circa 1711, m. 1750, d. 1757) Son: Daniel Dandridge Custis Son: John Parke Custis "Jack" (b. 1754, d. 5-Nov-1781 dysentery) Daughter: Martha Parke Custis "Patsy" (b. circa 1756, d. 19-Jun-1773 epilepsy) Husband: George Washington US President (b. 22-Feb-1732, m. 6-Jan-1759, d.

14-Dec-1799) Martha Washington aka Martha Dandridge From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For the comic book character from Frank Miller's Give Me Liberty, see Martha Washington (comics) . Martha Washington aka Martha Dandridge April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797 Succeeded by Daniel Parke Custis, Jr., Frances Custis, John Parke "Jacky" Custis , Martha Parke "Patsy" Custis Occupation Martha Washington as she appears in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington , the first president of the United States . Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States . During her lifetime, she was known as "Lady Washington". Contents 7 External links Biography Martha Dandridge was born at 10:35 a.m. on June 2, 1731 on her parents' plantation Chestnut Grove in the British colonial Province of Virginia .

She was the oldest daughter of Virginia planter and immigrant from England John Dandridge (1700–1756) and Frances Jones (1710–1785) of English, Welsh and English descent. [1] Martha had three brothers and four sisters, the others being John Dandridge (1733–1749), William Dandridge (1734–1776), Bartholomew Dandridge (1737–1785), Anna Marie "Fanny" Dandridge Bassett (1739–1777), Frances Dandridge (1744–1757), Elizabeth Dandridge Aylet Henley (1749–1800), and Mary Dandridge (1756–1763). She may have had an illegitimate half-sister (date of birth unknown), who was a slave: Ann Dandridge Costin was one-quarter African, one-quarter Cherokee Indian, and half-white. There is further evidence of an illegitimate half-brother Ralph Dandridge (date of birth unrecovered), who was probably white.

[2] On May 15, 1750 at age 18 she married Daniel Parke Custis , a rich planter two decades her senior. They lived at White House Plantation on the south shore of the Pamunkey River , a few miles upriver from Chestnut Grove. She had four children by Custis. A son and a daughter, Daniel (1751–1754) and Frances (1753–1757), died in childhood, but two other children, John (Jacky) Parke Custis (1754–1781) and Martha ("Patsy") Parke Custis (1756–1773) survived to young adulthood. Daniel Custis' death in 1757 left Martha a rich widow, with independent control over a dower inheritance for her lifetime and trustee control over the inheritance of her minor children. Martha Dandridge Custis in 1757 Martha Dandridge Custis, aged 27, and George Washington, aged nearly 27, married on January 6, 1759 at the White House plantation.

It seems likely that Washington had known Martha and her husband for some time. In March 1758 he visited her at White House twice; the second time he came away with either an engagement of marriage or at least her promise to think about his proposal. She was, at the time, also being courted by the wealthy planter Charles Carter. [3] Their wedding was a grand affair. The groom appeared in a suit of blue and silver with red trimming and gold knee buckles; the bride wore purple silk shoes with spangled buckles. [3] After the Reverend Peter Mossum pronounced them man and wife, the couple honeymooned at White House for several weeks before setting up housekeeping at Washington's Mount Vernon estate. Their marriage appears to have been a solid one, untroubled by infidelity or clash of temperament. Martha and George Washington had no children together, but they raised Martha's two surviving children. Her teenage daughter, named Patsy, died during an epileptic seizure , which led John (Jackie) to return home from college to comfort his mother.

John later served as an aide to Washington during the siege of Yorktown in 1781, and died during this military service, probably of typhus . After his death, the Washingtons raised two of John's children, Eleanor Parke Custis (March 31, 1779 - July 15, 1852), and George Washington Parke Custis (April 30, 1781 - October 10, 1857). They also provided personal and financial support to nieces, nephews and other family members in both the Dandridge and Washington families. MORE INFO Click here: More About Martha Washington aka Martha Dandridge: After the Washingtons returned to Mount Vernon, their granddaughter Nelly married George's nephew, Lawrence Lewis. Nelly's first child, Frances Parke Lewis, was born at Mount Vernon. Less than three weeks later, George Washington died, December 14, 1799, after suffering a severe cold. Martha moved out of their bedroom and into a third floor garret room and lived in seclusion, seen only by a few of the remaining slaves and Nelly and her family.

Martha Washington burned all but two of the letters she and her husband had exchanged. Martha Washington lived until May 22 , 1802. Martha Washington is buried with her husband in a tomb at Mount Vernon. George Washington Parke Custis' daughter, Mary Custis Lee , married Robert E. Lee. A part of the Custis estate which had passed through George Washington Parke Custis to his son-in-law was confiscated by the federal government during the Civil War, though the United States Supreme Court eventually found that the government had to reimburse the family. When a ship was named the USS Lady Washington in 1776, it became the first US military ship to be named for a woman and was the only ship the Continental Navy named for a woman. In 1901, Martha Washington became the first woman whose image was depicted on a US postage stamp. READ MORE Click here: American President—Miller Center Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. “George Washington.” Accessed January 20, 2017. ­/president/washington. Consulting Editor Stephen Knott Professor Knott is an Associate Professor in the National Security Decision Making Department at the United States Naval War College.

Prior to joining the War College faculty, he served as project director for the Ronald Reagan and Edward M. Kennedy Oral History Projects at the Miller Center of Public Affairs. His writings include: The Reagan Years (Facts on File, 2005) Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth (University Press of Kansas, 2002)

Question: Martha Dandridge was the 1st lady of which American President?
Answer: GEORGE WASHINGTON